fun for food fanatics. allergen-friendly eats. give plants a chance.

vow to veganism

August 2016, I decided to challenge myself by changing my diet and lifestyle. For years I had been playing with the idea about becoming a vegan, but thought it might be near impossible considering I have a soybean allergy, and most of the protein that vegans live off of is soy based. I tinkered with vegetarianism, but never felt like it was enough. Something was missing. But what? Finally, after struggling with gastrointestinal issues for several years as a young adult woman, I decided to take the plunge (no pun intended). I told myself I had to eat a plant-based diet for at least one month before I could write the vegans off as bat-shit crazy, denouncing them completely. So, I did just that. And before I knew it, one month turned into almost four now. Not only did becoming a vegan force me to channel more creatively as the self-proclaimed home cook that I am, but my mind started to change about a lot of things. Eat to nourish. Not, eat because I feel the hunger pangs or it is the time of day where *insert said meal* is supposed to be consumed. The first week I felt quite hell-ish because my body was actually withdrawing from the dead flesh and dairy mucous I had been poisoning it with for years. I felt low on energy, irritable, and my mood was unstable. My family didn’t think I could function on this new diet, but that drove me even more so to give my body the time it needed to adapt. Fast forward another week, and I never felt so alive in my entire life. Bloating after meals? Nonexistent. Constipation problems? Completely gone. How could such a simple change in my diet reap benefits like this? Why didn’t my doctor tell me about this before? Another tipping point for me was watching the documentary, “Fork Over Knife” on Netflix. This film was fascinating to me. It dissected the medical benefits of a plant-based lifestyle with real life trial cases. Real people, real conditions and real results. Go watch it now.

Since I’m vowing to veganism, I’m also vowing to educate the greater good on how they can improve they way they look and feel just by eating a plant-based diet. This blog is sort of an outlet for me to post my recipes, thoughts and ideas to inspire others who are searching for answers and those with dietary restrictions who need some encouragement. Also, I’m graduating next month with my Bachelor’s in Human Factors Psychology. Nope! I have not landed a big girl job yet, so this blog will help me to organize my life, maybe? Either way, I hope I can help a few people along the way.

Cheers!

P.S.-

The photo below is a red beet and chick pea hummus I made several months back. Very easy to make and the boyfriend gave his approval- and he’s not completely plant-based yet. Woo! I plan to post more recipes as I actively create the dishes.